In 1942, George H.W. Bush was the youngest Navy pilot to be shot down. He was 18. He survived and went back up again. He followed the Navy with a distinguished career in public service. In 1988, he ran for president. It was not clear why but the opposition started calling the war hero a wimp. His candidacy looked dim until he arrived at a campaign rally driving a heavy-duty tanker truck, not just blowing the horn. The wimp label fell away.
His opponent Michaels Dukakis tried to outdo him being videoed in a tank, apparently in the driver’s seat. But the way his head bobbled it was obvious he was not the one in control, or even comfortable. His campaign never recovered.
In theory, elections are decided on rational evaluation of the candidate’s ability and character. History causes us to wonder if that is what matters. Some say it’s charisma but that makes charisma hard to define (Trump vs. Kennedy). Maybe it’s sincerity — once you can fake that you have it made.
Nikki Haley gained a lot of respect on the liberal side when she bravely and controversially removed the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House. The politicians who call themselves conservative have not forgiven her, and the liberals have realized she identifies with the conservative agenda. She was running against overwhelming odds, to be president and fate could put her on the ballot. But for the symbolic flag incident she would be relatively unknown.
No one seems to notice that she cut her opponent’s majority from over 80% to about 60%, of only Republicans. That might cost him the election.
Some stunts had a profound unexpected effect. Sept. 11 made the U.S. and the world suddenly aware of the reach of global terrorism and cemented G.W. Bush to the White House. It was tragic for thousands of people, but hardly affected the financial houses that were the targets, because they had backups of their records deep underground at multiple locations.
Cummins makes diesel engines, mostly for trucks. They surprised the racing world by entering the Indy 500 with the heaviest car ever run. They almost won. They were far ahead because with long lasting truck tires and a diesel’s better mileage they needed no pit stops. Something outside the engine broke so they did not finish, but diesel became the choice for heavy duty applications ever since.
Often an isolated incident has a profound change in public opinion. The Republican National Committee had a section called the Dirty Tricks Squad, whose stunts embarrassed certain candidates sufficiently to cause them to drop out or be shunned.
Watergate, a third-rate burglary of a Democratic National Committee office, precipitated a controversy that ultimately scuttled the Nixon regime. At least Nixon had the dignity to resign for the good of the country and his party.
Some stunts have been successful locally. The citizens of the tidewater area of Virginia were beginning to take the Navy for granted, until the Navy paid everyone in silver one time.
John Roebling faced skepticism about his first wire suspension bridge. As soon as he had two wire ropes across the gorge below Niagara Falls, he laid planks on the cables and then rode his horse across, some say at full gallop. He changed bridge design forever. To support 100 pounds at 100-foot span takes 11,000 pounds of structural steel, or 9 pounds of steel wire.
Some stunts go horribly wrong like bombing Pearl Harbor which brought the U.S. into World War II. The United States’ manufacturing power quickly overwhelmed the axis’ desperate attempt to keep up. There are thousands of stories about that.
The Hamas massacre on Oct. 7 has cost them a country.
Some stunts have been spectacularly successful. No one really thought of Trump politically, until his deus ex machina descent on the golden escalator, followed by an offensive, to many, speech. His continued controversial behavior has kept him on the front page for 8 years right through his 4 years in the White House, and might put him there again. He has played the news media, he calls fake, like a jukebox. Name recognition is everything in advertising.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com